Diabetes is an increasing problem today that can lead to numerous disorders. Renal disease and renal failure are some of the more serious consequences of diabetes that is not properly controlled.
Patients who have experienced renal failure require some form of dialysis that is performed several times each week. Hemodialysis is a common form of dialysis that removes the blood from the patient and passes the blood through one or more dialysis filters before returning the blood to the patient. During dialysis, which can take several hours, the patient can experience a lowering of the blood glucose level. The patient often experiences a loss of appetite after dialysis so that the patient does not eat immediately after the completion of the dialysis treatment. This can result in lowering of the blood glucose level in the patient. Patients sometimes eat before beginning dialysis treatment since they can experience a loss of appetite after treatment. This can result in spikes in the blood glucose level at the beginning of the dialysis treatment.
Glucose levels are typically monitored at period intervals by the patient to determine when an insulin injection may be necessary or to determine how the user is responding to the prior injections. The patient monitors the blood glucose levels by lancing a portion of the body with a lancet to take a blood sample. The blood sample is placed on a test strip that contains appropriate enzymatic reagents for measuring blood glucose levels, which is subsequently analyzed by a blood glucose monitor. Various devices are known that are able to monitor blood glucose levels to assist a diabetic in the proper treatment. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,224,663 to Gordon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,294 to Anderson et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,891 to Gravel et al.
Biosensors have also been developed for measuring and monitoring blood glucose levels. These devices typically use a glucose binding protein that is able to capture glucose and produce a detectable signal for measuring the blood glucose level in the patient. Examples of glucose binding proteins used in biosensors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,629,172 to Alarcon et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,103 to Pitner et al. which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
While the prior devices have been suitable for their intended purposes, there is a continuing need in the industry for a system that is able to monitor and adjust blood glucose levels in a patient at times when the patient is not able to take the sample by the finger stick methods that are commonly used today.